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Comment by spike021 | Hacker News Reader

Probably just the idea of being a replacement for Square and similar readers.

But it'd only be Apple devices that can pay at that point, so not really worth it.

My thinking is that it would lower the barrier of entry. The iPad/iPhone cannot be used to accept payments without some kind of addon that can break or get lost. The moment someone buys an iPhone/iPad, they can accept payments. It also opens some interesting use cases such as micro-payments between individuals. For example, paying a buddy back for your part of lunch or paying someone in-person for a purchase from Craigslist.

Oh yeah, definitely.

I had that thought when Apple Pay was first introduced last year. Seemed like a no-brainer, especially since Apple doesn't mind doing the walled-garden thing.

> It also opens some interesting use cases such as micro-payments between individuals. For example, paying a buddy back for your part of lunch or paying someone in-person for a purchase from Craigslist.

Unless Apple plans on opening a bank, the limiting factor here is still that you/your buddy will be taking a haircut on the credit card processing fees.

Apple Pay doesn't replace the card network, and the card networks are NOT interested in being structured to be micropayment friendly.

Another completely missed opportunity on their part. Apple has the cash and where with all to be a bank. All they would need to do is purchase a community bank somewhere, and bam, they could start cutting out credit card processors. No doubt it would be a lot of work, but when you have $200 billion in the bank and their focus, it becomes quite doable.

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